From San Francisco we went SE To
Fresno, then North on CA-41 into Yosemite National Park. From
Yosemite we went SW, through Merced, to Monterey. We then resumed
our southward trek along the Pacific Coast Highway, through Big Sur,
to Morrow Bay (about 100 miles north of Santa Barbara). From Morrow
Bay we went south a bit, towards Pismo Beach, then turned NE through
St. Louis Obispo, before heading east along CA-58 to Bakersfield. We
continued eastward, picking up I-15 at Barstow CA, stopping at Las
Vegas. From Vegas, we stayed on I-15 through Salt Lake City, to
Tremonton UT, where we picked up I-84, heading NW across SW Idaho.
We stayed on I-84 to Hermiston OR, where we followed the Columbia
River Gorge, crossing over between the south shore (Oregon) and north
shore (Washington). In Portland, we took I-5 north to Auburn WA,
where we picked up our motor home. From Auburn, it was an easy drive
up I-5 to Bellingham, where we turned onto WA-539, which turns into
BC-13 at the Lynden border crossing. This is a great place to cross,
compared with the truck crossing, Peace Arch crossing and
Sumas/Abbotsford crossing, as it is hardly used and therefore has no
queues. The Eagle Wind RV Park, where our current story ends is
straight north of the Lynden crossing.

Stops

Fresno CA, 28 Jan, La Quinta. An older
property, but in good shape.

Merced CA, 29 Jan, Quality Inn, JAM,
nothing spectacular.

Monterey CA 30-31 Jan, La Quinta, very
clean with a nice breakfast, next to a park.

Morro Bay CA, 1 Feb, Holland Inn, a
modest, independent motel, very clean (caution if you go to Morro
Bay, we looked at several over-priced dumps before finding this
place).

Bakersfield CA, 2 – 11 Feb, Sleep
Inn, friendly, nice breakfast.

Barstow CA, 11 – 14 Feb, Travel
Lodge, old but well maintained property, nice managers (if you go to
Barstow be sure to stay at a motel away from the RR tracks).

Las Vegas NV, 15 Feb – 9 March,
Crestwood Suites, much like Extended Stay America, with kitchenette.
Nice and clean but really crummy beds. The problem is the
foundation, not the mattress; we had ours changed. Pleasant staff.

St. George UT, 10 – 14 March, Howard
Johnson, decent, and a good breakfast.

Cedar City UT, 15 – 16 March, Day's
Inn, JAM (just another motel).

Salt Lake City UT, 17 – 18 March,
Best Western, JAM.

Baker City OR, 19 March, Knight's Inn,
old and not the cleanest, but large rooms, crummy breakfast.

Hermiston, OR, 20 March, Motel-6, the
only nice Motel-6 that we saw; it had a microwave and fridge.

The Dalles OR, 21 Mar, Dalles Inn,
down town, a nice hotel well located in the old town.

Gresham OR, 22 – 24 March, Day's
Inn, JAM.

Auburn WA, 25 March – 18 April, one
night at Travel Lodge, brand new but really tiny rooms (ours was so
small it only had three walls), then Day's Inn at the end of the
airport runway, which has much bigger rooms and nicer amenities. They
will lower the price if you haggle.

Highlights

We went to Fresno specifically to see
the Underground Gardens (URLhere),
Fresno's only major tourist attraction. Alas, it was closed for
maintenance, so all we did was walk around the old town area, which
is quite nice, compared to many of the other towns we've seen in the
USA. The next day, we drove through Yosemite National Park
(yosemitepark.com),
which was a treat. A big storm had been through there earlier,
leaving huge snow banks and fallen trees, which were already cleaned
up by the time we got there. Signs said that we had to have chains
to enter at this time of year, but we ignored them with impunity. In
the high season, driving through most of the park is not allowed; so
this was a great time to see it. Our only gripe was that they do not
allow dogs on some of the trails, even on a leash; we obeyed these
signs, once, then ignored them, again with impunity.

Monterey (seemonterey.com)
is a great place to spend time at the beach. They have
well-maintained trails along side the beach and lots of sand beaches
along which to walk and run the dog. Nearby, Carmel by the Sea (URLhere)
also has great beaches, which we visited; we also drove around it for
hours, looking for Clint Eastwood and gawking at all the lovely
houses. We eschewed the famed 17-mile drive (URLhere)
through Pebble Beach, feeling that paying the rich for the privilege
of driving on streets through their neighbourhood was ridiculous.
Golfers would probably appreciate it more than we. The Monterey area
is also a great place for seafood; we had a nice outdoor lunch at a
little café, not much more than a shack really, right on the wharf.
This made for great people watching.

We won't dwell on the scenery of the
Pacific Highway, as we covered it in detail in our last report.
Suffice it to say that it was just as nice south of Monterey as it
was north. Along the way we spotted many migrating whales. Luckily,
there are lots of pull-outs along the highway where we could get a
good view. If you do this drive, go north to south, as we did,
because the pull-outs are more safely accessible and the scenery is
not masked by passing vehicles in the oncoming lane. We generally
research our next destination, if only a day or two before, but
somehow, we missed the Big Sur elephant seal colony (URLhere),
which is right alongside the highway. We only stopped because we saw
so many cars parked seemingly for no reason. What a hoot! If you
are ever down this way don't miss it.

Morro Bay (URLhere)
is famous for its big rock at the end of its blunt peninsula. We
also enjoyed a beach walk along rounded stones, and we liked the
nearby state park. Only about a half hour away is the famous Hearst
Castle (URLhere).
We drove in, saw all the tour buses, and drove right back out. Later
on, we found out that there is a video at the interpretation centre
that is worth seeing. We nearly regret not going on the tour, but
just can't abide huge crowds. On the other hand, there is enough
information and video on the enclosed URL to satisfy our curiosity.
If you are into art and castles this would be a 'don't miss'.

At first glance, Bakersfield CA
(visitbakersfield.com)
is just a big city that services the areas oil patch, vineyards and
other industries. But, if you stay there long enough and look
around, as we did, one discovers that there is a bit more to it.
There is some wonderful scenery in the Great Central Valley,
including some canyon, lakes and river parks. If you are into
country music, Bakersfield is home to the “Bakersfield Sound” of
Buck Owens and Merle Haggard, among others, memorialised by the
Crystal Palace Bar and Museum (URLhere).

Barstow CA was an important way-point
for us, as it was where we turned NE to follow Route-66 the previous
spring. So, by arriving there from the NW, we completed a huge
circle around the USA and southern Canada, bisected by Rte-66. Last
year we visited Barstow Station Rte-66 museum and drove Rainbow
Basin, but missed the controversial Calico early man site (URLhere).
We tramped around the desert, but did not find any evidence of early
man, just lots of dune buggy tracks (same thing? <VBG>). The
Calico ghost town (calicotown.com)
was fun. It's developed by Knott's Berry Farm, so is really
touristy, with people walking around in period costume, staged
gunfights, and the like. Back in Barstow, we again enjoyed a feed of
pulled pork from a little shack on main street that we discovered
last winter.

Las Vegas is good for much more than
just gambling. Indeed, one might argue that it isn't much good to
gamble there anyway! As our motor home was taking far longer to
repair than we had anticipated, we had ample opportunity to sample
its attractions. Just west of Vegas is Red Rock Canyon (URLhere),
an easy and scenic way to spend a day. About an hour north of Vegas
is the Valley of Fire (URLhere);
this is a terrific drive. No visit to the area would be complete
without seeing Hoover Dam (URLhere),
which we crossed over and back in our car, and walked around. From
the dam one can see stunning views of the new highway bridge being
built across the gorge above and just downstream from the dam (URLhere).
As good as the web site in the URL is, no pictures can do justice to
seeing this thing under construction. We also went to Lake Meade
(URLhere),
stopping at the visitation centre. We were stunned by the low water
level. It is so low now that there are boat launch ramps that go
down into dry valleys, miles from the nearest water. Other launch
ramps have had to be extended to reach the water. Molly discovered
she is, indeed, a water dog, when she spotted some ducks in Lake
Meade. Had she not been leashed she'd still be paddling around out
there trying to catch them. Back in Vegas, we caught a show at
Harrods (Mac King) for Louise-Ann's birthday, and walked Fremont
street, which at one time was a fading flower, but now has a huge
canopy with a light and sound show to attract visitors. We would not
recommend going there just to see it, but it was worth seeing if you
are in the area. The casinos, on the other hand, are a collection of
has-beens, with poor ventilation and lots of cigarette smoke,
compared to the newer ones on 'the strip'. Still, we managed to find
a nice restaurant at the end of Fremont, where we had an inexpensive
steak dinner and beer on the terrace, while people-watching. Vegas
also has some nice amenities for those that live there, like parks;
Molly's favourite was Sunset Park, which has all sorts of sports
fields, a dog run and a big pond full of ducks and geese. Here she
discovered that geese are not to be trifled with.

Utah is Mormon country and in St.
George we encountered a huge Mormon Temple (URLhere).
We did not know that there was more than the famous one at Salt Lake
City. St. George is the main jumping-off point to visit Zion
National Park (atozion.com),
yet another don't-miss natural wonder in this area, which we did over
two days, first from the west entrance off I-15, then from the east
entrance. We were lucky to see mountain goats & kids, and as
there was not much traffic in the off-season, had a picnic on the
rocks, where Molly discovered snow. On our second day, going into
Zion, from the east, we happened upon Moqui Cave (URLhere),
a controversial, man-made tourist attraction. It consists of a hole
in the rock, which houses florescent rocks, artefacts and bones
giving an overall funky appeal worth a brief visit.

Just north of St. George, on the way
to Cedar City, we happened upon Kolob Canyons (URLhere),
a seldom visited and totally different extension of Zion canyon,
complete with a little visitor centre. Cedar City UT (URLhere)
is the best spot from which to visit Bryce Canyon (URLhere)
and Red Canyon (URLhere).
It also has some wonderful drives in the area of Cedar Breaks
National monument, although the monument road itself was snowed in
when we were there. Between St. George and Cedar City, we spent a
week enjoying stunning scenery, both in the canyons and driving to
and from them.

We did nothing in Salt Lake City.
Perhaps it was because we were anxious to get back to our motor home,
or maybe because we had just seen so many stunning sights that we'd
become jaded. By the time we arrived there, we saw only another big
city. As we'd already seen the temple at St. George we just blew
right through, kind of a 'see one church seen them all' sort of
thing.

Shoshone Falls (URLhere),
near Twin Falls Idaho, was an unexpected detour. We saw signs along
the road and followed them, and we are happy that we did. There is a
stunning drive down the little gorge with great views of the falls
and a terrific walk along the basin.

Baker City (URLhere)
has a nice down-town but did not stay to see much of it. On the way
to Baker City we did stop to visit a historic dam on the Owyhee River
(URLhere),
once the tallest dam in the world. Baker City is on the Oregon
Trail, the popular view of which is heavily influenced by Hollywood
movies depicting savage attacks by native Indians. In fact, this
rarely happened, but when it did near Castle Butte, the result was
enough to fuel dozens of movies. The Utter Wagon Train attack (URLhere)
in September 1860 near Castle Butte, was a tragic story.
In our
haste to explore the Columbia Basin, we did not do justice to The
Dalles OR (URLhere).
It has an interesting history, being at the end of the Oregon Trail.
The down-town is decorated with a number of murals depicting its
history.

On the way south last autumn, we had
followed the Columbia River west from I-5 to the Pacific Coast
Highway; it was most scenic, even without much of the foliage. So,
looking forward to seeing the rest of it, we crossed the Columbia
River Gorge (crgva.org)
several times as we took in some breathtaking views of the river,
surrounding countryside and vineyards. The view from the north bank,
in Washington, is the better of the two, but the highlight of a visit
to the Gorge is a short drive on the south bank, along which are many
fantastic waterfalls (FallsURL),
such as the Multnomah and Bridal Veil Falls. Follow the enclosed URL
to a map showing their location (zoom it in a bit to see them all).
As you can see from the table below the map, this has to be some sort
of record for waterfalls per mile. We also visited Cascade Locks OR
(both the name of a town and a lock on the river) and the Bonneville
Dam (URLhere).
While driving along the north shore we came across what appeared to
be a castle, a magnificent building with nicely landscaped grounds,
seemingly new. It was built by a tycoon for his wife; she took an
instant dislike of the area and refused to live there; it now houses
the Maryhill Museum of Art (maryhillmuseum.org),
featuring Northwest art. Of course, we had to stop to get a souvenir
for our friend Mary Hill. We also stopped at a lovely vineyard
nearby, bearing the same name. Mary loves wine, but having a
vineyard named after one's self must be a new height!

Auburn WA has little to recommend for
the traveller. It is a business centre for the area, but with urban
expansion is now little more than a satellite of Tacoma and Seattle.
There are a couple of casinos, one a large Vegas-style, neither of
which we visited. We had a small casino just across the parking lot
from our hotel and people there certainly seemed to be having fun, at
least from the din they raised. Most of our time was spent visiting
our motor home, and wondering how on earth it could take nearly five
months to do what amounted to not much more than two or three weeks
worth of work. The answer, by the way, is lack of timely delivery of
parts by Winnebago and its local dealer. One thing we did enjoy was
watching the light aeroplanes taking off and landing at the airport
right across from our hotel. As this is a training centre, there was
the odd 'interesting' landing, including one aborted landing by a
twin-engine Beechcraft that produced a huge roar as the pilot floored
the throttles to avoid disaster. You'd think that a hotel at the end
of a runway would be noisy, but once inside we rarely heard anything.
Also, there was nearly no activity at night.

Aldergrove BC is a good alternative to
being in Vancouver. It is close enough to go into the city for a
visit, but far enough out to have a rural feeling. The town has all
the normal facilities, making trips to neighbouring Langley and
Abbotsford unnecessary most of the time.